Tag Archives: fiction

When I first began learning about survival topics like food storage and bug out bags, I knew I needed to begin building a library of actual books that could guide me through survival scenarios of all kinds. I began collecting books about gardening, household repair, first aid, military manuals, you name it. When possible, I […]

Word has gotten around Amity. Casey Stoner is a prepper. Pretty much the whole island now knows that Casey has gathered up a mess of resources to use in just such a SHTF situation as they now face. All his … Continue reading →

The sun was starting to set and the air became cooler as Nick continued pushing himself forward step by step. He lost track of the days, but he knew that it had been more than he wanted to count since the grid went down and he was left stranded at the airport 670 miles from home.

He recalled how he was standing at the United Airlines ticket counter to check-in when the lights went out. Emergency lights kicked on, but the light from the big windows helped tremendously. At first, the terminal personnel kept people calm, brought out snacks and blankets and assured everyone that the electricity would come back on in the terminal and their flights would resume.

Half-way through the next day, Nick observed the airline and terminal workers talking really fast and acting suspiciously. Nick walked over to an older terminal employee and asked what was going on. The employee was staring off into space and Nick had to ask him twice. “Hey, buddy. Are you OK?” he asked.

Without looking at him, the employee said, “It’s the apocalypse. The lights are off everywhere.”

“What do you mean everywhere,” Nick said.

“All over the US,” the employee replied.

“What? How? Is it coming back on?” Nick was starting to get a little frazzled.

The employee finally turned to him, “I don’t know much. One of the guys in the tower has a HAM radio. He tied it into one of the antennas and is getting reports from all over. It started on the West Coast and cascaded towards the East really quickly. Government channels are asking HAM operators to tell people to stay calm,” he said.

“That means that it is bad,” Nick whispered to himself. “Yeah, real bad,” the employee responded in a similar whisper.

As Nick tried to take in this new information, he noticed that the airline employees started to thin out. Where once there were many employees trying to meet the needs of passengers, now there were only a few handfuls. “They know the lights aren’t coming back on and they are leaving to go home,” he thought to himself. “I need to get home too! I don’t even know how far away from home I am or in which direction I really need to travel.”

He opened up his backpack, removed some business files and grabbed some snacks and water bottles that were still left over from the snacks provided by the terminal. He turned to the older employee that had provided the information before and asked if he was going to leave the terminal. “I’m waiting for my grandson to pick me up, if he ever comes,” he said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the United Airlines ticket counter employees emerge from the backroom with her purse. He rushed over to her and asked her if she was leaving. She tried to avoid him, but he was persistent.

“Look, I need to get home to my kids,” she said. “I understand me too. Can I get a ride with you as far as you’re going? I don’t even know where I am,” he said. “I don’t think so,” the woman responded with a lowered voice. “Look, I just need a lift as far as you are going. I won’t be any trouble. But if you don’t let me go, I’ll make a big scene here,” he replied. “Fine, come on. But you better not give me any trouble. I have mace,” she said.

Jennifer didn’t say much in the car. She looked very worried.

Nick noticed that although the lights were out, people were still driving their vehicles. “I guess people will drive to they run out of gas,” he thought to himself.

Jennifer exited the freeway and stopped at a convenience store. “Look, I held up my end of the bargain, now please get out without giving me any trouble,” she asked. Nick grabbed his backpack, looked her in the eye and said, “thank you.” Jennifer looked back sheepishly and responded, “good luck getting back home.”

From where he stood, Nick could see a truck stop on the other side of the freeway. He walked over there and noticed a big rig that was idling with the driver deep in thought as he studied a map.

Nick jumped up on therig and asked the driver where he was going and if he could get a lift. He didn’t mean to, but when he did that, he scared the driver and made him throw the map in the air. “I apologize for startling you,” Nick said. “I’m just trying to get home to my family.”

The driver seemed to look him over for a few moments and reasoned that he wasn’t a threat. He then said, “Go ahead and get in. It will be safer with two of us traveling. I’m trying to get home to my family too. My name is Ed. What is your name,” he asked. “My name is Nick,” he responded.

Nick listened as Ed recounted what he knew from truck drivers sharing information over the CB radio. Many drivers were abandoning their routes and heading back home. Not knowing if diesel would be available, they didn’t want to be left stranded somewhere.

Ed decided to take some back roads as a shortcut. After taking a curve in the road, he was forced to come to an immediate stop as a trailer was blocking the whole road. “What the heck is this,” Ed asked out loud. Just then, four individuals came out from the surrounding trees. Two had military looking rifles and two held up pistols.

One of the men with a pistol jumped up on the driver’s side and pointed the pistol at Ed’s head. He said through the window, “We don’t want to hurt you. We just need your diesel. We’re trying to get home to our families.”

“We are trying to get to our families too,” Ed responded. “Why don’t you guys jump in and we can help each other out.”

The man with the pistol became agitated, “I don’t think so. Get out now or I’ll start shooting.”

Ed looked at Nick. “I guess we don’t have a choice. Those rifles will go right through this cab,” he said.

Ed opened the door and started getting out. Nick grabbed his backpack and the map that was on the dashboard while the other man with the pistol opened his door for him.

One man with a pistol held them on the side of the road while the others moved the trailer. They then got in the truck and started down the road.

“I’m sorry about your truck Ed,” said Nick. “If people are that desperate now, society has the potential for really going downhill fast,” Ed replied.

They started walking.

The next day, Ed complained about not feeling well. They stopped under the shade of a tree to rest. Nick gave him a drink from a water bottle that he had in his backpack. But Ed just threw it up. A few minutes later he complained about a pain in his left arm. He started grabbing his chest. He started breathing heavy. He reached out for Nick’s hand and then collapsed.

“Ed! Ed!,” Nick yelled. Ed was unresponsive. In fact, it looked like he wasn’t breathing. Nick took his pulse. There wasn’t a heartbeat. Nick laid Ed down flat and started CPR. He continued for what seemed to be an eternity, with no response from Ed’s body. Nick was fatigued. Very fatigued.

Nick looked around. What was he going to do with Ed’s body? He was out in the middle of nowhere. He hadn’t seen anyone on this back road in a day and he had nothing to dig with. There weren’t even any rocks that he could pile over his body.

Nick was tired, frustrated, sad and at his wits end. He wanted to close his eyes and wake up from the nightmare. He decided to close his eyes for a few minutes. He woke up hours later. Coming out of his deep sleep, he jumped when he saw Ed’s body laying next to him. In the heat, the body was already showing signs of decomposition.

Nick got up quickly and started walking again.

That was all days ago.

Now, he was really tired. His feet ached. He was thirsty and the hunger pains in his stomach were something he had never experienced.

He was about to stop and rest when the smell of something wonderful reached his nostrils. “What is that smell,” he thought to himself. “It smells like a BBQ!” His eyes widened as he started to look around to see if he could pinpoint where the smell was coming from.

Tired, desperate and hungry, Nick was going to eat no matter what or who stood in his way!

Is It Just Fiction?

Forgive me. I don’t want to be a fear monger. But I do want to try and portray the human condition when men become desperate and hungry.

One facet of surviving the SHTF is keeping a low profile and maintaining OPSEC, including cooking. But it’s hard to cook and not give off the aroma of what you’re cooking.

One way around this is to use a solar oven.

There are so many advantages to a solar oven. Did you know you can’t burn food? Did you know that you could cook almost anything in a solar oven? Did you know that you could set the solar oven to cook and then leave it, accomplishing other chores and jobs around your home?

And the only disadvantage of the solar oven is that you need the sun!

The solar oven will even work in Winter…as long as you have the sun!

But a solar oven can do so much more!

The good news is that there is some really good education on what solar ovens can do.

I’m proud to partner with Sun Oven to bring an educational class to you free of charge. In this class you will learn:

13 ways the sun can be used year around to give you the peace of mind of knowing you are better prepared for an emergency.

The fundamentals of how to reap the maximum benefit of this amazing free resource.

How to use the sun to hard boil freshly laid eggs and make them easy to peel.

Why food cooked with the sun does not burn or dry out.

Ways to dry herbs that increase the nutrients without breaking down the essential oils and vitamins.

Ways to use a SUN OVEN that go way beyond just cooking, like pasteurizing water, dehydrating, and sterilizing potting soil.

Separating Fact from Fiction on the Internet Bob Hawkins “The APN Report“ Audio in player below! “3 out of every 5 statistics are made up on the spot” – Abraham Lincoln Did you know… You can have someone transmit a signal from your spare remote key via cell phone & unlock your car door? Or … Continue reading Separating Fact from Fiction on the Internet→

Hey, even survivalists have to unwind every once in a while. Take a look at some of these fictional stories of survival, hand-picked by us for your entertainment pleasure from movies, TV and books. What’s your favourite fictional survivalist story?

By Alex Coyne, a contributing author of SurvivalCache and SHTFBlog.com

#1: The Road (2006)

The Road was first published in 2006 by author Cormac McCarthy, also known for writing the books behind No Country for Old Men, Child of God and All the Pretty Horses. The Road was released to great critical acclaim, winning several book awards including the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for literature. It follows the story of a father and son making their way to safety in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world. The story was adapted to film in 2009, starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and without revealing too much we’ll say that you’ll be in for a great ride..

#2: The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719)

The original Robinson Crusoe comes from the novel “The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe, published way back in the 1700’s. You can find the full text of the novel (thanks to expired copyright and literary classics) available for download at Project Gutenberg by clicking here. The book tells the tale of Crusoe, a man who spends a record-breaking twenty seven years stranded on an island. Oh, and the original was published under the pseudonym of Robinson Crusoe, making people believe he was entirely real, at least for a little while.

Stephen King seems to love exploring survival and post-apocalyptic scenarios in his work: There’s The Stand (1978), which was turned into a pretty cool 1994 TV miniseries, The Mist (1980), which was turned into a 2007 horror flick, Cell (2006), which became a 2016 movie by the same name and Under the Dome (2009), which was also not surprisingly turned into a TV series which ran from 2013 to 2015. But a lot of people forget about a little story called Survivor Type, which was first published in a 1982 book called Terrors – though later released with Stephen King’s short story collection Skeleton Crew in 1985. The short story follows the diary of Richard Pine, a man who gets stranded on an island while trying to traffic a shipment of heroin on a cruise ship.

It’s a thrill ride like only King can write it, and the story was even adapted to short films: In 2011, 2012 and 2013.

#4: The Hunger Games (2008)

The first book in the Hunger Games series first appeared by author Suzanne Collins in 2008. Subsequent sequels included Catching Fire in 2009 and Mockingjay in 2010. The series follows young characters Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they make their way through a terrifying survival game-show setup straight from your worst dystopian nightmares. The trilogy also gave rise to a series of movies of the same name. It’s got all the elements of a highly successful series that makes you fall in love with the characters immediately, and if you were a fan of movies like The Running Man then you’ll surely enjoy this too.

#5: I Am Legend (1954)

I Am Legend was originally published in 1954 by Richard Matheson, and stands as one of modern fiction’s true classics: This is one of many cases on the list where you might want to read the book before you take the leap and see the movie. The story follows Dr Robert Neville and his canine companion after the breakout of a disastrous virus that “turned” most of humanity (yes, this is one of the original post-apocalyptic zombie stories).

Want to learn more about historically accurate (yet surprisingly fictionalized) survivalism? Then you should jump straight into the work of Jean M. Auel, starting with the Earth’s Children series – with six books in all. Earth’s Children is set in pre-historic times, and the finer points of Auel’s work are notorious for being exceptionally finely researched. Start off with the first book in the series, The Clan of the Cave Bear (1980) and work your way through until The Land of Painted Caves (2011). It’s worth it.

#7: The Martian (2011)

Give survivalism a completely different (and terrifying) modern spin: Put a man in space, where nobody can hear him scream. That’s the premise of the debut novel by author Andy Weir, which was first self-published in 2011 (before later being snapped up by a larger publishing house). The story follows botanist Mark Watney’s attempt to create a self-sustaining colony on Mars – something which already a possibility in reality.

Cast Away was released in 2000 starring Tom Hanks, and is a film classic. One can almost go as far as to call it a modernized version of Robinson Crusoe. The movie follows Chuck Noland, a Fed-Ex employee, who finds himself stranded on an island after his plane takes a nosedive. Yes, this is a bit of a tear-jerker, but that also isn’t always a bad thing, is it? One of the most famous elements of Cast Away was Wilson (If you haven’t seen the movie, that’s a beach ball who, well, becomes Chuck’s eventual friend in an attempt to make island life less lonely).

Fake News Bob Hawkins “The APN Report” Audio in player below! From the very beginning, there has been controversy concerning the press & it’s apparent bias over how it reports the news. But of late, a new controversy has appeared that throws fuel on the fire. The rise of “Fake News.” Up until the last … Continue reading Fake News on The APN Report→

Mark DeBryan: Family Reunion Series Author Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow” On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow Author Bobby Akart, best-selling post-apocalyptic fiction author P. Mark DeBryan joins the program. Mark has always been a bit of a vagabond. Born in Washington, raised in California, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard after … Continue reading Mark DeBryan: Family Reunion Series Author→

KYLE PRATT: Best Selling Speculative Fiction Author Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow” On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program we have Kyle Pratt, author of the Strengthen What Remains series. In 1975 Kyle joined the United States Navy as a Cryptologic Technician. While in the service he met Lorraine Best of Plymouth, … Continue reading KYLE PRATT: Best Selling Speculative Fiction Author→

John L. Monk: Science Fiction and Post-Apocalyptic Author Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow” On this special episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, Bobby is joined by John L. Monk, author of the supernatural thriller series titled The Jenkins Cycle and his latest hot new release—Hell’s Children. Author John L. Monk launched … Continue reading John L. Monk: Science Fiction and Post-Apocalyptic Author→

WALT BROWNING: Post-Apocalyptic Author Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow” On this episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic author, Walt Browning, will be his special guest. As preppers, we hunger for knowledge and often seek out post-apocalyptic fiction as a source. We try to imagine ourselves in a … Continue reading WALT BROWNING: Post-Apocalyptic Author→

ALLEN GAMBOA: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction! Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow” On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, popular zombie apocalypse author, Allen Gamboa joins us. Our month long series featuring some of the best authors in the zombie apocalypse genre continues. With The Walking Dead’s record-breaking ratings (including its … Continue reading ALLEN GAMBOA: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction!→

Mike Evans: Award Winning Author of Prepper Fiction Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow” On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, post-apocalyptic author Mike Evans joins us. Mike, who lives in Iowa with his wife and children, released his first book on Amazon two years ago and never looked … Continue reading Mike Evans: Author of Prepper Fiction→

On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic authorsA. R. Shaw and Steven C. Bird will be our special guests. The month of February continues with Bobby’s interviews of some of his fellow authors who contributed to The Perseid Collapse Kindle World.

A. R. Shaw, born in south Texas, served in the United States Air Force Reserves from 1987 through 1991 as a Communications Radio Operator at Kelly AFB. Her first novel, The China Pandemic, (2013) climbed to #1 in Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic genres in May of 2014. Hailed as “eerily plausible” and her characters “amazingly detailed,” Shaw continues the engaging series in post-apocalyptic fiction. Her works include the Graham’s Resolution Series and three novellas in Kindle Worlds. She lives with her family in eastern Washington State, where after the deep snow of winter finally subsides to glorious rays of summer; she treks northeast to spend her days writing alongside the beautiful Skagit River.

Steven C. Bird was born in Harlan, KY in 1973, where he lived until joining the U.S. Navy in 1992. He spent the next thirteen years living in northwest Washington, where he served on active duty for eleven of those years. After leaving active duty, he completed twenty years of service with the Navy Reserve, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. His works include the critically acclaimed New Homefront Series, and two novellas in Kindle Worlds. His latest novel is titled The Shepherd: Society Lost. Steven Bird is a self-sufficiency minded individual with a passion for individual liberty and economic freedom. He puts this passion into his writing where he conveys the things that he feels are truly important in life, intertwined with action packed adventure and the struggles of humanity. Bobby is proud to call Steve and his family – “neighbors”.

These two incredible authors are working on a novel together titled: Surrender the Sun, available soon on Amazon. Join in the conversation as I welcome A. R. Shaw and Steven C. Bird to the Prepping for Tomorrow program Thursday night!For Social Media, visitwww.BobbyAkart.com

Join us for “Prepping For Tomorrow” “LIVE SHOW” every Thursday 9:00/Et 8:00Ct 6:00/Pt Go To Listen and Chat

Listen to this broadcast or download “Post-Apocalyptic Authors Shaw & Bird” in player below!

Get the 24/7 app for your smart phone HERE! Put the 24/7 player on your web site HERE!Archived shows Prepping For Tomorrow at bottom of THIS PAGE!

David Forsyth: Best Selling Author of Horror and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Bobby Akart “Prepping For Tomorrow”

On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, bestselling author David Forsyth will be our special guest.

David brings a unique nautical based writing expertise to the Prepping for Tomorrow program, having written two complete series based on the high seas. His Sovereign Spirit series and Sedulity books put readers in the relative comfort of luxury cruise liners, but that changes rapidly.

He self-published his first three novels in 2012.Voyage of the Dead, Flotilla of the Dead, and Deluge of the Dead comprise the 300,000 word Sovereign Spirit Saga: Volume 1. The plot revolves around survivors aboard a mega-yacht sailing through a world overrun by the zombie apocalypse. The characters could easily sail off to a deserted island, but choose instead to rescue and assist other survivors along the coast of California. From there, it gets really interesting.

David’s books in the Sedulity Saga focus on the passengers and crew of a cruise ship sailing to Australia when a mile-wide asteroid strikes the Pacific Ocean. The focus is on the threat posed by a natural disaster. The threat extends far beyond the lives of those aboard the ship, but unlike his Sovereign Spirit Saga, there are no zombies present.

I first met David when we worked together on The Perseid Collapse Kindle Worlds project. His book, Retribution, was consistently atop the Science Fiction best seller rankings. One of the main characters in Retribution, the USS Florida, an Ohio class cruise missile submarine, makes a cameo appearance in his latest work entitled Submerged, in the World of Wool, which pays homage to Hugh Howey’s Wool and Silo Saga series. This is a sea-faring story of the crew of a nuclear submarine that witnesses TEOTWAWKI, but refuses to accept it.

David holds a master’s degree in international relations and has pursued diverse interests and career paths. He is a licensed pilot and certified scuba diver. Mr. Forsyth’s professional endeavors have ranged from international trade to travel marketing, and from charter aviation to construction management. He lives in Malibu, California, with the love of his life, Pamela, and an army of munchkin cats.For Social Media, visitwww.BobbyAkart.comJoin us for “Prepping For Tomorrow” “LIVE SHOW” every Thursday 9:00/Et 8:00Ct 6:00/Pt Go To Listen and Chat

Listen to this broadcast or download “David Forsyth: Horror & Post-Apocalyptic Fiction” in player below!

Get the 24/7 app for your smart phone HERE! Put the 24/7 player on your web site HERE! Listen to archived shows of all our hosts . Schedule tabs at top left of page!

On this week’s episode of the Prepping for Tomorrow program with Author Bobby Akart, authors Will Allen and his brother M.C. Allen are my special guests. They have collaborated on the hugely successful Walking in the Rainseries. With nearly 1,500 reviews, the five installments to date have consistently ranked in the top 100 on Amazon’s post-apocalyptic fiction list since the release of book one almost one year ago.

Post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, by the nature of the genre, places the characters in a world full of desperation and despair. The Walking in The Rain series is no different. We’ll talk with the Allen boys about what led them to writing in this genre, and get their opinions on the state of world affairs. The collapse event which underlies the series is an EMP attack. We’ll delve into the realities of this threat and get some words of advice from two men who grow up in a small farming community in southeast Texas.

One thing is certain, if my interaction with the Allen Posse on Facebook is an indicator, this hour will be unpredictable, raucous, and full of ROTF – LMAO one-liners. Frankly, as host, I am scared. Hopefully, Mr. Producer will have his finger on the mute button at all times!

As always, one outstanding caller will be chosen to receive one of my books as their reward for adding to the conversation. Let me say this to all of you, don’t be shy. There are no bad callers. Remember, just as I will remind myself, we’re like old friends talking on the phone about a subject that is important to us all – prepping. Please, do not think about the fact that millions of people are listening!For Bobby Akart Social Media, visitwww.BobbyAkart.com

Join us for “Prepping For Tomorrow” “LIVE SHOW” every Thursday 9:00/Et 8:00Ct 6:00/Pt Go To Listen and Chat

Listen to this broadcast or download “WALKING IN THE RAIN” in player below!

Get the 24/7 app for your smart phone HERE! Put the 24/7 player on your web site HERE! Listen to archived shows of all our hosts . Schedule tabs at top left of page!

If you enjoy prepper fiction, then you’ll love Annie Berdel’s book, Alpha Farm, The Beginning. Annie will be giving away a paperback copy of her book, as well as an audio copy.

Alpha Farm, The Beginning has a solid story with un-apologetically strong female characters, which is something not typically seen in most prepper fiction books. Too often, women are relegated to the sidelines in these stories. Not here.

Instead, one woman has taken it upon herself to utilize her connections to other preparedness-minded women, and institute a network of safe houses around the country in case of a disaster- or in the case of this story, multiple, simultaneous disasters. There are plenty of twists and turns, and loads of lessons for preppers in the telling of this tale.

From her Amazon Author profile:

Based in Indianapolis, Annie Berdel is a self proclaimed advocate of educating women in the art of personal protection and self reliance.

As an aspiring writer, Annie took her advocacy and dove into the dystopia genre with strong female lead characters.

A passion for firearms, herbal medicine, knives, slingshots, home canning, Kali street fighting, Kempo karate and furry animals fuels the fire and adds countless stories to be told beginning with her inaugural book “Alpha Farm, The Beginning”.

Join me and Annie Berdel as we discuss her book, personal dynamics during a crisis, prepping, guns, herbal remedies, and who knows what else!Join us for Herbal Prepper Live “LIVE SHOW” every Sunday 7:00/Et 6:00Ct 4:00/Pt Go To Listen and Chat

Listen to this broadcast or download “Women with guns” in player below!

Get the 24/7 app for your smart phone HERE! Put the 24/7 player on your web site HERE! Listen to archived shows of all our hosts . Schedule tabs at top left of page!

Voyage After the Collapse, (Book III of The Pulse Series) was released this week in both the Kindle Edition and in paperback. The Pulse Series will continue with a forth book early in 2016, after the release of the third book in The Darkness After Series.

A few years ago I published the book A Survival Story. I had a ball writing it as I wrote the story in “real-time” on the Internet. Readers would visit the website daily to get new updates. It turned out pretty decent and is currently available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions. The Kindle edition has been recently edited.

I am getting the writing itch again and am looking more towards fiction than non-fiction. I have been jotting down some storyline ideas but really struggling. Yes – this will be a preparedness story but I really would like something different. I could do zombies or economic collapse or EMP – whatever. Seems pretty much everything has been done before. Maybe a topic with a new twist?

Just a heads up to let you know about a special deal good today only on one of my older novels from 2013.

The Darkness After (Book I of The Darkness After Series) has been chosen by Amazon to be featured among today’s Kindle Daily Deals. This means that the book will be discounted from the publisher’s list price of $6.99 to the low price of $1.99 for the entire day (September 23, 2015) until approximately midnight PDT.

If you’ve read my nonfiction survival books or my novels in The Pulse Series but have missed this parallel series set in the same scenario, today is a great time to pick up Book I cheap. The Darkness After and Book II of this series, Into the River Lands have gotten great reviews and many of my readers are asking for the third book. There will be a third and maybe more in this series. I’m working on Book III along with Book III of the The Pulse Series and hope to have it available by the end of year as well.

This is a quick note to let all my readers of Bug Out Survival know that the third installment of the ongoing series that began with The Pulse is my next book coming down the pipeline. Voyage After the Collapse is available for preorder on Amazon now (Kindle Edition only, at this point). There will be a paperback edition as well, of course, and it will probably be available sometime in November or early December when the ebook is actually released.

BOOK III OF THE PULSE SERIES—A STORY OF SURVIVAL IN THE AFTERMATH OF MASSIVE SOLAR FLARES THAT DESTROY THE POWER, COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION GRIDS, BRINGING ABOUT A DESCENT INTO LAWLESS CHAOS AND UNBRIDLED SAVAGERY.

The crew of the sailing vessel, Casey Nicole has endured a harrowing ordeal on the dark waterways of the coastal swamps near New Orleans, but Artie Drager has escaped with what he came for—his only daughter, Casey.

They are free of the mainland but still too close for comfort. Now the crew of six aboard the big catamaran must plot a course and set sail into the unknown, hoping to find a place where the impact of the electromagnetic pulse was not so severe. Where that will be, they have no way of knowing. Did the solar flares impact the whole planet, or just the parts of the Western Hemisphere they have seen?

Voyage After the Collapse is a passage of hope into an uncertain future, leaving the terror of the U.S. mainland astern in the wake.

You can reserve your Kindle copy by preordering at the Amazon link below, where it is listed for $3.99 from now until release. You won’t be charged until the release date when the book is delivered to your reading device. (Good know in case a real pulse hits first, rendering your ereaders useless!)

Many readers of the The Darkness Afterhave asked if there was going to be sequel, and it has been my intention all along to continue this story as an ongoing series parallel to The Pulse Series, which of course, involves a different set of characters in the same grid-down scenario.

Although originally aimed at the young adult market by my publisher, The Darkness After has been well-received by adult readers as well. The only real difference as far as young adult vs. a general adult audience is the age of the characters anyway. In this case, the main protagonists, Mitch Henley and April Gibbs, are both under twenty, but are in a world where survival is up to them and them alone. Readers of the first book will know that Mitch has superb skills as a hunter, despite his age. Those who enjoy survival stories that involve hunting, stalking and tracking will enjoy this one. Unlike The Pulse series, this story is all about living off the land in the woods, and the title, Into the River Lands refers to the deep river bottom swamp lands of Mississippi that Mitch knows so well.

Into the River Lands will be my next book release for 2015 and it is scheduled for publication on June 11. I’m shooting for bumping that up a bit to sometime in May, but either way, it’s not far out and you can preorder your Kindle copy for just $2.99 on Amazon, or by clicking on the cover image at the top of the sidebar to the left. There will be a paperback version available as well when the ebook is released.

I had another interesting conversation with John Wesley Smith recently, this time discussing my latest novel, Sailing the Apocalypse: A Misadventure at Sea. John has posted his thoughts about the book in a review on his website: Destiny Survival.

I was pleased to hear that John liked the story a lot, and found it entertaining. My main purpose in writing it was to entertain, but if you take something more from it, that’s good too. Here’s an excerpt from John’s review:

“I believe Scott has hit upon something much bigger than telling an entertaining tale. It has to do with our attitude toward the world as it is and how we will prepare to face what’s coming. Will we see an instantaneous collapse? Or will it be a slow burn? And, most importantly, how should we respond?”

I’ve posted this on my main website but I’m reposting here for those of you who don’t visit www.scottbwilliams.com all that often. As always, there’s a new book in the works and this one is another fiction title that might interest some readers of Bug Out Survival. Part humor, part adventure and part disaster, Sailing the Apocalypse is the story of one man’s ultimate bug-out with his family before the collapse he fears has a chance to happen.

I’m wrapping up the manuscript within a few days and it will be all set to go to the copyeditor shortly thereafter. Sailing the Apocalypse is a novel of about 70,000 words, and is the first novel I’ve written in the first person point of view. This is a story I’ve really enjoyed working on and writing it has given me several ideas for other works or possibly sequels to this one. Anyone who has spent as much time on or around the water as I have could not help but run into some of the eccentric characters sailing attracts. The main character of this story is one of those, but like most sailors and boatbuilders, Terry Bailey is resourceful and independent even if he does take a lot of his ideas too far.

With “apocalypse” in the title, a lot of my readers will assume this book is another “post-apocalyptic” or dystopian survival tale like The Pulse or The Darkness After, but it’s actually more “pre-apocalyptic” if anything. The Wharram catamaran featured in the story and on the cover is christened the Apocalypse by Terry and his family after they build and launch it. And it’s purpose is to be their new home and escape pod from the doom that Terry is certain will soon befall his country. Readers of my other works will see a bit of the prepper mentality in this character as well, but he’s much more off the deep end than I’ve recommended in my serious nonfiction titles on the subject or here on Bug Out Survival

Sailing the Apocalypse is available for preorder now in the ebook form for just five bucks from the usual retailers linked below, and the print version will be available about the time the ebook is released. Although the release date posted on Amazon and the other stores is February 15, the book should be available a full month earlier or by the end of January at the latest.

I have word from the publisher that copies of Refugehave shipped from the printer to the warehouse, so the book should be showing up for sale soon, though the official release date is still posted on Amazon and other sites as September 23.

I should have my author’s copies sometime before then, and I want to announce a giveaway of ten (10) signed copies that I will personally mail out to the winners, who will be chosen from the email entrants to the giveaway once I have books in hand.

To enter for a chance to win a copy in this giveaway, all you have to do is enter your email address and first name in the form below. If you are selected I’ll contact you by email to get your mailing address.

The sign-up will also add you to my newsletter mailing list, so you will be the first to know about my next books (two projects currently in the works) and other giveaways, previews and occasional recommendations of other books I’ve recently read. This newsletter list is new and will be my go-to method of keeping readers informed in lieu of social networks like Facebook and Twitter with their ever-changing policies and restrictions. You’ll only get an occasional newsletter email, certainly less than one a month and most of the time even less, and you can be sure your email address will never be shared and that you can opt out of the list at anytime, including right after this giveaway, if you choose.

If you chose to enter, thanks for your interest in the sequel to The Pulse and good luck!

(Update Notice: If you are reading this blog post from an email or RSS subscription feed, the signup field below will not work. I posted an update about this after publishing this post. Use the signup form at this link instead: Scott B. Williams Newsletter

If you are reading this on the web at www.bugoutsurvival.com, the form below should work. Either way, you won’t be entered unless after clicking subscribe you get a notification saying that an email has been sent for verification. You must opt-in to the list after receiving that email.)

Just a quick update on the expected availability of Refugewhich I finished up in June. My publisher has shipped the finalized files to the printer and I got word yesterday that copies will ship from the printer on August 21, which should put them in the warehouses of Amazon and other distributors and retailers about a week later. So hopefully the book will be available to buy around the 1st of September instead of the 9th as posted on Amazon now.

Here’s a view of the back cover, which I did not have at the time of my last update here:

As with all these books done through my publisher, the printed price on the cover is the list price only. The selling price on Amazon and other online retailers will be significantly lower. It’s currently listed on Amazon for $11.26, but I expect that price to go lower upon release, but final selling price is up to Amazon. The Kindle Edition will also be available at the time of the print release and should be under $10.

I want to thank all the readers of this blog and especially those of you who have purchased and enjoyed The Pulse and The Darkness After, making it possible for me to continue exploring the concepts presented here on Bug Out Survival through works of fiction. I think fiction can in many ways be more thought-provoking than nonfiction when it comes to considering just what one might do in the event of a catastrophic disaster like the solar flare scenario explored in these novels. I try to make the stories as realistic as possible, but at the same time, the goal is to entertain more so than to teach. I look forward to continuing these stories as well as beginning new ones. More to come soon with the announcement of the next project…

Days have turned into weeks with no contact from anyone outside of North America, where the power, communication and transportation grid has been completely destroyed by massive solar flares. In the ensuing chaos, grocery store shelves have been stripped bare and panicked survivors have fled the cities and towns, sweeping across the countryside in a desperate attempt to find sustenance and avoid the violence. Artie Drager has risked everything to sail from the West Indies to New Orleans, where his daughter Casey was attending college. Finally catching up with her after discovering she had long since evacuated the city with her friends, Artie’s plan to get her to safe refuge on his brother’s sailboat begins to fall apart. Artie and his daughter must fight to survive, and hard choices must be made when part of their crew fails to return before they must set sail. This sequel to The Pulse explores the descent into anarchy that occurs when everything familiar in modern life is suddenly stripped away and survivors must adapt to a harsh new reality or die.

I have been working hard at wrapping up the manuscript for Refuge, the sequel to my first novel: The Pulseand it is now in the hands of the editors and hopefully on track for release later this summer in July or August. Refuge picks up right where The Pulse left off, after a series of strong solar flares has shut down the grid over the southern U.S. and maybe even worldwide, as far as the characters in the story know.

My intention all along while writing The Pulse in late 2011-early 2012 was that there would be one or more sequels, as there were so many possibilities for this unlikely group of characters thrown into such a life-altering event. I wanted to move forward on the first sequel immediately after the release of The Pulse in the summer of 2012, but at the suggestion of my publisher, I agreed to first write the parallel story for young adults, The Darkness After. Response to that book has been extremely positive as well and I also plan one or more sequels to it, although they will likely be independently published so that I can get them out there sooner. Hopefully, readers of The Pulse will not have forgotten too much of the story and will be able to pick up Refuge and move forward with ongoing dilemma that Larry, Artie, Casey, Jessica, Grant and Scully have gotten themselves into. Things certainly get even more complicated for them in Book II, but setbacks and disappointments are to be expected in a major SHTF event like the one in this series.

I will post updates here as the publishing process moves forward, and there will almost certainly be a GoodReads Giveaway that you can sign up for as well. As with all my books, review copies will be available for other bloggers and writers with related sites who wish to receive one.

Today, I’d like to do something different and share an excerpt of a new piece of fiction that I’m working on.Be warned, it’s horror. Mild right now, but it’ll get freaky later.It doesn’t have a title yet, but I’m open to suggestions. Suggest something in the comments section. When it sees publication, if I use your suggestion, you’ll get a shout-out in the acknowledgements! You could be famous…Anyway, here’s the excerpt, please let me know what you think!

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They say I’m mad, the people here. But I’m not. Not really. They just don’t understand because they’ve never been face to face with the evil that I have.You asked what I saw? It wasn’t just what I saw, but what I heard and smelled. Hell, the whole thing.

Have you heard of Christina Mine? No? I’m not surprised, it’s not much now. Back in its prime it was a small village of maybe 60 buildings; a store, some homes, a train station, outbuildings for the mine, a hotel and a mill that took in logs from the surrounding woods and prepped them for the train trip south. By the time I saw the area a hundred years later all that was left was the skeleton of the mill, the train station and a boarded up entrance to the mine. The closest collection of people was ten miles away. I thought it was going to be a peaceful summer, the real estate agent never said a word about anything hinky going on before I bought the place. I thought it was just a sad, neglected train station.

I replaced the windows and doors before I ever stayed overnight. A couple of times I thought I heard kids playing in the hall, but of course, when I went to look they had left. I replaced the locks after that. The day after I replaced the locks, I was out in the front yard having a smoke and happened to glance up at the second story. When I saw someone’s face looking back at me from the corner of the window, I ran inside, grabbed my gun and charged up the stairs, mad as hell. It was my place, you know? I didn’t want kids coming back in, ruining what I’d done to fix the old place up. It never occurred to me that the closest kids would have lived ten miles away. Of course I found no one else besides myself. I double checked the locks and kept my gun close by. It never really bothered me then.

The next time something weird happened, I was up a ladder, painting the outside of the building. I had picked up a few gallons of simple white on a trip to town and only had to wait for the right day. Well, the day finally came. The bugs were scarce, there was a slight breeze and it was as bright a day as I’d ever seen. So I set my stuff up, leaned the ladder against the building and took my tray and roller up the ladder. I had been painting for a couple of hours when I heard someone laugh, kind of a chuckle, right beside me. Like anyone else would, I looked. Of course there was no one there, I was twenty-something feet off the ground! I shrugged to myself and kept painting. When I heard the chuckle again, it came from my other side. Yeah, I looked again. Nope, no one there either. This time though, I got goose bumps up and down my arms. I got off that ladder as fast as my feet could carry me.